These figures are not a measure of ambition. They are a measure of access. UNHCR’s 2025 education report found average refugee gross enrolment rates of 67% at primary level, 37% at secondary level, and 9% at tertiary level across reporting countries for the 2024 academic year. These figures describe different education levels, not one group of learners tracked through school. The gap underscores how fragile progression remains.

The crisis is a pathway problem

Refugee education is often discussed as if the main task were opening a classroom door. Access is more fragile than that. A learner must be able to enter, attend consistently, keep pace, document prior learning, progress to the next level, and earn a credential that another institution can recognize.

When one link breaks, the effects compound. A missed week can become a learning gap. A learning gap can become shame or disengagement. A lost transcript can force a student to repeat years of school. The problem is not that refugee learners lack potential. The pathway around them is frequently discontinuous.

Why urban refugees can live near a school and still be locked out

In cities such as Cairo, Nairobi, and Amman, physical distance is only one part of access. Families may face tuition or material costs, unreliable transport, overcrowding, missing documents, language differences, changing residence, or the need for adolescents to work or care for relatives.

Discrimination can be another barrier. Refugee learners may encounter xenophobia, racism, bullying, or exclusion from classmates. Harm can also come from adults and institutions, including low expectations or discriminatory treatment by educators. UNESCO has documented racism, xenophobia, and related discrimination as obstacles to the right to education. A school place is not truly accessible if a learner does not feel safe enough to use it.

The enrollment cliff

Source: UNHCR Refugee Education Report 2025, average gross enrolment by level across reporting countries for the 2024 academic year. These are not one tracked cohort.

Secondary education is the critical bridge. Without it, a student’s route to a high school credential, TVET, employment, or university narrows dramatically. The transition is especially vulnerable because adolescents face more pressure to earn income, more complicated academic requirements, and fewer age-appropriate catch-up options.

Digital access changes the question, but does not solve it alone

Internet access has expanded worldwide, including through mobile phones. ITU reported in 2025 that almost three-quarters of the world’s population was online, while 2.2 billion people remained offline. Coverage is not the same as meaningful access. A family may have one shared phone, limited data, inconsistent electricity, or no quiet place to study.

This is why the choice is not “online or in person.” The better question is how digital learning and trusted local support can work together.

KnowArk’s response: portable learning with a human support layer

KnowArk is developing a K–12 online academy designed around refugee learners, beginning with high school and expanding backward through middle and primary grades. The planned pathway brings together four connected offerings: a high school diploma pathway, TVET, English as a Second Language, and college preparation.

Our hybrid model is designed to pair portable online coursework with partner refugee centers and community learning spaces. Online access can help learning continue across schedules and locations. Local centers can provide devices, connectivity, study routines, adult guidance, safeguarding, and a sense of belonging.

• Flexibility: learners can continue beyond a single classroom timetable.
• Continuity: course progress can be less vulnerable to mobility and missed days.
• Support: partner centers can identify attendance and learning gaps earlier.
• Progression: high school, English, vocational, and college-preparation routes can be planned as one pathway.

What progress should look like

Success should not be measured only by sign-ups. A credible refugee-education pathway should track sustained participation, learning progress, course completion, transitions between education levels, safeguarding, and where possible, progression to a recognized credential, TVET, work, or tertiary study.

KnowArk is strengthening the evidence and reporting systems needed to publish verified results responsibly. Until those data are validated, this site separates organizational ambitions from measured outcomes.